Previous Designers:

On February 12, 1947, a new couturier named Christian Dior presented his first show to the press. In an elegant salon on the Avenue Montaigne, a model sauntered out wearing a calf-grazing skirt made with 20 yards of black wool. A cream shantung jacket (like most of Dior’s designs, it came with a name, Bar) had a tightly nipped waist that flared into a regal peplum. In a postwar world still under continued rationing, the ensemble was downright shocking. But to a legion of women used to boxy suits and drab skirts, Dior’s ultra-feminine styles were a blissful reminder of better days—and the promise of a return to luxury. “You waved your wand and suddenly I was young and hopeful again,” one ardent fan wrote Monsieur Dior. “I love you.”

Envisioning a globe peopled with customers clad in head-to-toe Dior, the designer set about building an empire of elegance, establishing outposts in New York, London, and Caracas. Delman designer Roger Vivier created shoes as splendid as the outfits. Vibrant lipstick and perfume—Miss Dior was the first, followed by Diorama and eventually Diorissimo—completed the Dior woman’s toilette. The master merchandiser also recognized the power of personality, becoming a bit of a showman in the press. He penned his memoirs—none too prematurely, it would turn out. In 1957, Dior suffered a heart attack and died at age 52.